A Hogwarts Romance In Five Parts and Four Seasons
by Bad Mum
Summary: For Megsy42's Seasons Challenge. Arthur and Molly in the very early days. Pure fluff.
1. Prelude: Winter

This is for Megsy42's Seasons Challenge at the Harry Potter fanfiction Challenges Forum.

_Prompts used - coat, cold, puddle-jumping. (I know there are two more winter prompts. Bear with me there's method in my madness.)_

For Steph, who loves Arthur and Molly too.

**A Hogwarts Romance**

_**(In five parts and four seasons)**_

**Prelude - Winter - January 1966 **

She tells herself that she is being unfair. It is not Monica's fault that she didn't realise what she felt about Arthur until it was too late. (Would it have made any difference if she had? Arthur might not have noticed her anyway. He _wouldn't_ have noticed her. Not with Monica around.) And Monica is her friend, her _best _friend. She should be happy for her.

So she lies on her bed watching as Monica gets ready to go to Hogsmeade with Arthur, and says how nice Monica's blonde hair looks against the blue of her new coat, and says yes, she thinks that Arthur will be happy to go to Dolores Dingles' Teashop with Monica, and no, of course she doesn't mind that Monica is going to Hogsmeade with Arthur instead of with her. She smiles and lies, and her best friend has no idea just how much she hates her right now, and just how much she wants to cry.

And half an hour later, when Monica and Arthur have gone off together, and after she has shed hot tears behind the curtains of her four poster bed, Molly washes her face and puts on her own coat. She finds Sally Spendlove alone in the common room waiting for her, and she takes her hand and pulls her out of her chair and smiles and says she's sorry she took so long getting ready. And she and Sally go off down the road to Hogsmeade together, huddled in scarves and gloves against the cold, speculating on whether it will snow today, and jumping on the puddles to break the ice. And they go to Honeydukes and buy chocolate, and to the Three Broomsticks and drink butterbeer, and Sally wonders aloud for the millionth time just when her uncle will get round to opening the joke shop here that he keeps talking about. And Molly laughs and smiles and talks, and no one knows just how much effort it takes her.

Because she has her pride, and because Monica is her friend.


	2. Beginning: Spring

_Prompts used: bloom, flowers, sounds, rustle,light, green_

**A Hogwarts Romance**

_**(In five parts and four seasons)**_

**Beginning – Spring – March 1966**

Spring holds out until the end of March, and then seems arrive very suddenly all at once. The grounds outside the Castle are green instead of white with snow or hidden in the greyness of winter fog or rain, there is a hint of blossom on the trees, and crocuses and daffodils are blooming with the snowdrops under the trees and in the grass. Subtly, the mood of the school changes too. The corridors are noisier, people seem to smile more. It is possible to go out to the greenhouses or to the Quidditch pitch without either shivering or putting on too many layers of clothing. On nice evenings (nice being a relative term, of course), homework and games in the common room are abandoned for walks in the grounds.

And Arthur and Molly are among those taking walks. Arthur split with Monica in February, after he forgot Valentine's Day (accidentally-on-purpose he confesses to his friend Daniel Burnett – Monica was becoming too clingy, too demanding). A month or so on, he has realised that Monica's best friend may not be tall and graceful and blonde like she is, but has a very pretty face and a lovely smile. And Molly in her turn is wondering if Monica will ever speak to her again if she confesses to her just how she feels about Arthur – how she has actually felt about him for the whole of the last year, but has only admitted to herself since she saw him dancing with Monica at Christmas and realised just how very much she wished he was dancing with her instead.

But she has no time today to worry about what Monica will think. Arthur has asked her to come for a walk with him after supper. A walk through the windy Hogwarts grounds may not seem much like an ideal date to some (indeed, Molly herself is not entirely sure if Arthur means this as a date or not), but just the prospect of being alone with Arthur is exciting to her.

She waits in the entrance hall for over ten minutes before he arrives, breathless and apologetic. Apollyon Pringle had decided (correctly) that the mud all over the Gryffindor common room floor originated from the fifth years coming back from the greenhouses after Herbology that afternoon, and had insisted they clean it up – without magic – before doing anything else after supper. Arthur is slightly grubby in consequence, but Molly is just glad to see him. He smiles and hands her a bunch of flowers – daffodils and tulips – his ears going red as he does so. It seems that this _is _a kind of date, even if it is just a walk around the grounds.

The light is fading as they go out and head towards the lake, but neither of them minds. The wind rustles in the trees, and they are glad of their Gryffindor scarves, gloves and winter coats. It may be spring, but it is far from warm this evening. Arthur takes Molly's hand, a little hesitantly, but holds it firmly once he realises that she is not going to pull it away. Before long, their shyness disappears, and they are talking and laughing, speculating about whether the Hufflepuff prefect, Delloran Gumble really fancies Molly's friend Sally, and whether she will turn him down if he asks her out; enjoying condemning Pringle for his general awfulness; moaning about how much homework the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor seems to think is reasonable, and wondering about Gryffindor's chances against Ravenclaw in the Quidditch match this weekend (not that Molly cares much about Quidditch, but Arthur does, so she is happy to discuss it now).

Without quite knowing how they have got there, they find themselves under the trees by the lakeside. It is almost dark now, but the moon is up, and there are some stars visible between the clouds. Arthur puts his arms round Molly, and pulls her to him, kissing her gently, and then more firmly as she does not resist, but returns the kiss. It is a long while before they realise how cold it has become, and head slowly back towards the Castle, his arm around her shoulders, sharing the large bar of chocolate he has brought, and stopping several times en route for more kisses.

They split up in the entrance hall and head up to Gryffindor Tower separately, but Gideon Prewett – on his way back from detention with Pringle – sees them come in. By breakfast time the following morning, it is all around the school that Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett are going out. Monica scowls, Sally demands details, and Daniel teases Arthur unmercifully, but neither Molly or Arthur can bring themselves to mind much. They know that this is the start of something special.


	3. Separation: Summer

_Prompts used: heat, sun, outdoors, smile, lake, yellow_

**A Hogwarts Romance**

_**(In five parts and four seasons)**_

**Separation– Summer – June and August 1966**

Exams are over, and there is a palpable air of relief throughout the school. While lessons continue, the teachers are less strict about hard work and results than they usually are, and no one but the very keenest Ravenclaw is even pretending to bother about homework.

Besides it is really far too hot to work, and no one wants to spend time in a stuffy common room when they could be outside enjoying the sun. On the very last evening of term, Arthur and Molly are lying under a tree by the lakeside, her head pillowed on his shoulder. Theirs is an established relationship now, old news. The Hogwarts gossip factory has moved on to newer more exciting things – Sally Spendlove and Delloran Gumble; Monica Springer and next year's probable Head Boy Patrick Munster; Greg Abbott and Rose Malloy. No one gives Arthur and Molly a second thought, or bothers with speculating about them now – they are one of those couples that seem so right, so inevitable, that gossiping about them is a waste of time. Even Gideon and Fabian refrain from wolf-whistling every time they see them kissing or holding hands – though Molly knows her brothers will subject her to merciless teasing and threats about telling their parents once the three of them get home tomorrow.

"I'll miss you," she murmurs now, snuggling closer to Arthur.

"I'll miss you too," he sighs. "Eight and a half weeks till term starts again… I'll owl you. And perhaps we can meet up in Diagon Alley once or twice."

"If my mother will let me. She's tends to be a bit – fussy – about things like that. Over-protective. You know how mothers can be."

"Mmm. I know." Arthur rolls over, and props himself up on one elbow, smiling down into her face. "It won't be the same not seeing you every day, Mollywobbles."

She giggles and blushes at the nickname as he leans down to kiss her. Neither of them says anything else for a very long time.

As it happens, they do not see each other again until the very end of August when they are both shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley. Molly is sitting outside Giovanni Fortescue's ice cream parlour with Monica and Sally. She has been left there by her mother, who is taking Fabian and Gideon for new school robes, with strict instructions that she is to _stay there and not talk to anyone she doesn't know_. (Molly's "Mum, I'm fifteen, not a baby!" went unanswered. She inwardly resolves _never _to fuss over her children - if she has any - as much as her mother does over her and her brothers.) The three girls are bemoaning the end of the holidays, but Molly is secretly glad to be going back to school – and Arthur – in a couple of days.

Coming out of Eeylops Owl Emporium with Daniel Burnet and Carlo Peres, Arthur spots her - indeed, she is difficult to miss with her bright yellow sweater clashing with her red hair so wonderfully - and he smiles without realising that he is doing so. He mutters something to his companions, who laugh, but clap him on the back and obligingly turn into the Quidditch supply shop without him. Sally sees him coming before Molly does and nudges her – "You've got company, Moll!" – then grabs Monica's hand, pulls her out of her seat and tows her away and towards the sweet shop before Monica has a chance to realise what is happening and object.

Molly and Arthur are both smiling broadly as he reaches her and bends down for a kiss. She tastes of ice cream and sunshine, and he cannot believe it has been nearly two months since he last saw her. He tastes of candy floss and autumn coming, and she wonders how long they will have before her mother comes to reclaim her.

In the event, they have twelve minutes (though neither of them are counting), and they make the most of them. Fabian sees the two of them together as he emerges with his mother and brother from Madam Montana's, and wolf-whistles loudly enough to alert them and give Arthur time to escape before Mrs. Prewett can look up from her purchases and realise what is going on.

He murmurs, "You owe me one, sis," as he and Gideon slide into seats either side of Molly and demand ice creams from their mother. Molly nods in acknowledgement, and has to hide her smile as she answers her mother's query about where her "nice little friends" have gone.

Three days until she will see him again. She looks at her watch. Less than three days really – two days, seventeen hours and sixteen minutes. She can wait that long.


	4. Fighting and Making Up: Autumn

_Prompts used: leaves,tree, fight,breathe, song, brown_

**A Hogwarts Romance**

_**(In five parts and four seasons)**_

**Fighting and Making Up – Autumn – October 1966**

Molly runs until her breath is catching in her throat and she cannot run any more. She has reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but she is too angry and upset to be frightened, or even worried about being caught out of bounds by the ubiquitous Pringle or by Ogg the gamekeeper. She has never fought with anyone as she just has with Arthur – or maybe it is that she has never cared as much about fighting with someone – and right now she feels that if she never sees him again it will be no problem at all. A sob catches in her throat, giving the lie to the thought, and she holds her breath as she hears someone coming towards her, the dry leaves underfoot rustling with their approach.

She hopes it is not Arthur. She does not want to see him now, to hear his apologies, to have to forgive him. (Not yet, though she knows she will in the end. They cannot break up over something as stupid as the brown mark his homemade fireworks made on her Transfiguration essay, however long the essay had taken her. But she cannot forgive him for laughing about it, for saying it didn't matter, it wasn't a big deal. Not yet. She had worked hard on that essay. It was a big deal to her.)

She hopes it is not Sally – or worse, Monica. Their sympathy will only make her cry more, and seeing them will remind her how much nicer Arthur is than Sally's over-earnest Delloran or Monica's self-centred Patrick. She does not need to hear them tell her that "all boys are horrible really", when none of them really believes that is true.

A voice calls her name, and it is so unexpected that she sobs out loud. Gideon should be laughing about her "lovers' tiff" with Arthur, not coming to find her to make sure she is alright. Fabian might do that sort of thing, not Gideon. She tried to get away, but it is too late, he has seen and heard her. He is beside her in a second or two, and suddenly she is sitting against the trunk of a tree, Gideon's arms around her, and crying so hard that she can barely breathe.

"Hey, come on, sis, he's not worth it." There is a note of amusement in Gideon's voice, but concern too. "D'you want me to curse him for you? Or beat him up? That would be more satisfying."

"You-you can't," Molly chokes. "He's bigger than you. And anyway, you know what Dad threatened if you get any more detentions this term."

Gideon laughs. "I'll get Fabe to do it then. He's had fewer than me. He doesn't hit as hard though."

Molly laughs shakily despite herself, and scrubs at her eyes with her fists. Gideon pulls out a handkerchief and holds it out to her, but it is so filthy she refuses to touch it, which makes them both laugh again.

"Come on, Moll," Gideon says, standing up and extending a hand to pull Molly to her feet. "It's bloody freezing out here. Let's go back to the Castle, and you can get into a huddle with Sally and Mon and discuss the horrors of the male of the species."

But Molly hangs back, reluctant. "What if I see Arthur?"

"Then you can treat him with the contempt he deserves. Ruining a perfectly good essay for mere fireworks!" That makes Molly laugh again as she falls into step beside her brother. In Gideon's world, fireworks are _far _more important than homework.

The common room is practically deserted when they clamber through the portrait hole, though the radio is still burbling away to itself – some late-night music programme that no one has bothered to turn off. And Arthur is sitting at the table in the corner, painstakingly copying out Molly's ruined essay. He looks up as Molly and Gideon enter, and blushes furiously. Gideon glares at him balefully, and seems about to say something, but he gets in first.

"I'm sorry, Molly," he says very fast. "I'm sorry I spoilt your essay and I'm sorrier that I laughed about it. Forgive me? Please?" Molly smiles at him, and is in his arms immediately, kissing him hard. Gideon groans. Fabian, who has been sitting by the fire, unnoticed by any of them until now, stands up and comes over to his brother.

"Face it, mate," he says. "She's a lost cause. Let's leave them to it."

Molly and Arthur, still wrapped in each other's arms, don't even notice them go, Celestina Warbeck's voice swells from the radio, and Molly and Arthur smile at each other.


	5. Forward: Winter

_Prompts used: snow, white_

**A Hogwarts Romance**

_**(In five parts and four seasons)**_

**Forward – Winter – December 1966**

It is snowing, and Molly feels as if she has never been colder in her life. She doesn't even _like_ Quidditch, so why on earth is she stuck out here watching the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match as if she cared about the result? Well, she supposes she wants Gryffindor to win, but in previous years she'd managed to be quietly pleased when they won or vaguely disappointed when they lost from the warmth of the Common Room. (Even though Fabian and Gideon are both on the team. She loves her brothers, but there are limits to what she will do for them. Watching Quidditch is not on the list.)

This year, however, she is out here in the freezing cold, her scarlet and gold scarf and gloves doing nothing to keep out the icy wind. And the reason she is here is next to her. Arthur. She would cross the world for him, so merely going to a Quidditch match to make him happy is nothing. For him, and him only, she will watch Quidditch. He has become her _raison d'etre_, her world, her everything.

And miraculously, she knows he feels the same about her. They may be only sixteen, but they know that this is forever. Gideon may laugh, Fabian may tease her, her parents may warn her against "rushing into things", but she knows that they are wrong and she is right. This is love and it is forever.

The Hufflepuff Seeker catches the Snitch, and Molly smothers a cry of relief that now at last they can go in out of the cold. Arthur, Daniel and Carlo are groaning at the Gryffindor Seeker's slowness. The players are landing, looking tired, cold and (can it be?) faintly relieved that it is over. Arthur sighs, and puts his arm round her shoulders.

"Sorry love," he says, glumly. "I drag you out to watch in the freezing cold, and we go and bloody lose."

She almost laughs, because it is only a game, it's not as if it _matters_. But it matters to Arthur, so she stifles the laugh and mutters something consolatory about the game against Slytherin after Christmas that they are bound to win. They make their way back amongst the straggling crowd towards the Castle. The grounds and trees are white with snow. It would be beautiful to look at from inside – out here it is just _cold._

Finally, they reach the portrait hole, and Molly is about to give the password (_"plum pudding"_) and go through to the warmth of the fire beyond, but Arthur pulls her back.

"Mistletoe," he says firmly.

"Wrong!" trills the Fat Lady, triumphantly. (Why is she always so happy when someone gets the password wrong?)

"Who said I was talking to you?" Arthur demands.

He points upwards to the bunch of mistletoe hung above the Fat Lady's head, and pulls Molly to him, kissing her hard.

Suddenly, she is not cold any more. She does not mind that Monica (who has split from Patrick and so suddenly wants Arthur back) is scowling, that several people are applauding, that Gideon is wolf-whistling(even with her eyes shut, she just _knows _it has to be Gideon). None of those things matter.

This is love and it is forever.

* * *

_A/N This story could go on forever of course, like Molly and Arthur themselves, but I'm ending it here. If you've read my other Molly and Arthur fic, "My true love given to me", the ending of this will be familiar. You probably know by now about my obsessive need to have my stories agree!_

_(I know "Birthdays and Beyond" is overdue. I'm working on it. Really.)_


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